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Watervliet

Erie Canal Balladeer Tom Kilboy: A Short Biography

November 21, 2021 by David Brooks 5 Comments

This might just be the image of a once well-known but now forgotten canal man who boasted fast cash and could bellow sweet, eloquent canal ballads near Waterford and Cohoes, active for decades between the 1870s to the early 20th century.

On December 22, 1938, Works Progress Administration (WPA) worker R. P. Gray came into the acquaintance of one Tom Kilboy. Gray was part of the Federal Writers’ Project, created in 1935 “to provide employment for historians, teachers, writers, librarians, and other white-collar workers” according to the Library of Congress.

It was in that work that Kilboy had been interviewed in his apartment at 2307 Broadway, West Troy – today’s Watervliet. [Read more…] about Erie Canal Balladeer Tom Kilboy: A Short Biography

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Mohawk Valley Tagged With: Albany County, Cohoes, Erie Canal, Music, Musical History, Rensselaer County, Transportation History, Waterford, Watervliet

Early Helderberg Settlers: The Fischer – Wood House

November 9, 2021 by Harold Miller Leave a Comment

Thomas Wood HouseOne of the earliest settlers above the Helderberg Escarpment was Piter Fischer who homesteaded on the flats below the current hamlet of Berne, Albany County, in about 1740. He married Dorothea Ball, whose father, Peter Ball probably, owned the next farm to the west.

They were among the earliest settlers in Beaver Dam (now Berne, Albany County) and settled on choice valley land. [Read more…] about Early Helderberg Settlers: The Fischer – Wood House

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Mohawk Valley Tagged With: Albany County, Berne, Cohoes, Genealogy, Historic Preservation, Rensselaerville, Town of Knox, Watervliet

Jermain Family Philanthropy Helped Shape The Capital District

September 20, 2021 by Peter Hess 1 Comment

John Jordan-JermainJohn Jordan left Edinburgh, Scotland in 1755 arriving in White Plains, colony of New York, the same year. Edinburgh had been the family home since Jordan’s father and grandfather fled France for Scotland following the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre of French Huguenots in the late 1600s. John struck out on his own and decided to immigrate to America.

John married Mary Ann Daniels, a young woman of Dutch descent, and in 1758 they had a son, John Jordan, Jr. With the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, John Jordan, Sr. and his wife left New York and helped found the loyalist colony of St. John, New Brunswick, just across the Maine border. Their 19-year-old son, John Jr., stayed behind. [Read more…] about Jermain Family Philanthropy Helped Shape The Capital District

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Albany, Albany and Northern Railroad, Albany Rural Cemetery, Cooperstown, Genealogy, Menands, railroads, Rutland & Washington Railroad, Social History, Troy, Troy & Rutland Railroad, Van Rensselaers, Watervliet, womens history

Bout of the Century: Heenan and Sayers

February 25, 2020 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

Jem Wards picture of the bout of the centuryBritain and the US share a passion for boxing. Over time, it has been both mass entertainment and highbrow delight for writers from Byron to Norman Mailer, or artists from Cruikshanks to Bellows.  In 1949, Kirk Douglas made his name as Midge Kelly in Champion. The greatest sporting event of the nineteenth century was a bout between a London bricklayer and a New York blacksmith. Both were of Irish descent. They became sporting super stars. [Read more…] about Bout of the Century: Heenan and Sayers

Filed Under: History Tagged With: boxing, Gambling, John C. Heenan, Sports History, Watervliet

Military History Event at Schuyler Flatts This Weekend

August 15, 2017 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Time Line of World HistoryThe City of Watervliet Historical Society will host a “Time Line of World History” at the Schuyler Flatts Cultural Park on Saturday and Sunday, August 19-20, from 10 am to 4 pm Rt.

This family friendly event will have re-enactors of various wars including Union and Confederate Civil War units. There will be strong representation of U.S. Civil War re-enactors, as well as 20th Century German and Italian units, Roman Empire Vikings, and more. There will be displays of military uniforms, customs, drills, and weapons. [Read more…] about Military History Event at Schuyler Flatts This Weekend

Filed Under: Events, History Tagged With: Military History, Watervliet

A Short History of Watervliet Water Works

July 24, 2017 by Kevin Franklin Leave a Comment

Watervliet Arsenal Fire PumperFire! Fire! The words still strike fear into people, but in the 19th Century, the alarm of a fire in a community sometimes brought disaster. Unfortunately, large fires were very commonplace.

Fires in the early 19th Century sometimes leveled blocks of homes in Albany, and in the mid-19th Century, a spark from a steam engine set the old wooden Green Island Bridge over the Hudson River on fire and westerly winds blew hot embers into Troy causing the great conflagration that destroyed much of the center portion of the city. Building codes changed due to fires like these. [Read more…] about A Short History of Watervliet Water Works

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Fires, Troy, Watervliet

Slavery and Freedom in Nineteenth Century Watervliet

March 19, 2017 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

slavery and freedom in watervlietThe Historian’s Office and Historical Society of the Town of Colonie will host Michael T. Lucas, PHD, who will speak on the topic of Slavery in the old Town of Watervliet, on Sunday, March 26, 2017 at 2 pm.

Slavery and Freedom in Nineteenth Century Watervliet will be held at the William K. Sanford (Colonie) Town Library, 629 Albany Shaker Road. [Read more…] about Slavery and Freedom in Nineteenth Century Watervliet

Filed Under: Events, History Tagged With: Colonie Historical Society, Slavery, Watervliet

New Shaker Book Highlights Watervliet Settlement

March 11, 2017 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

their name is wicks book coverThere is a new book about the Shaker community and the original (1776) Shaker settlement in the United States in Watervliet, NY.

‘Their Name is Wicks’: One Family’s Journey Through Shaker History by Ann C. Sayers shines a light on the peak years of Shaker history, from the 1820s to the 1850s.

This is the first comprehensive study of a whole (and very large) family who moved to the Watervliet Shaker community. [Read more…] about New Shaker Book Highlights Watervliet Settlement

Filed Under: Books, History Tagged With: Shaker Heritage Society, Shakers, Watervliet

A Short Biography of Engineer Benjamin Prescott

June 25, 2015 by Kevin Franklin Leave a Comment

Pipes of the Albany Water Works excavated by Wolfert Roost CC circa late 1980s002The Wolfert’s Roost Country Club in Albany maintains a small dam, pond, and pump house to provide water for their golf course. In the 1980s workers excavating the pond, which is fed by the Maezlandtkill, discovered several sections of ancient wooden and very early cast iron pipe along with iron bands. The pipe and other artifacts were placed in the woods near the club’s tennis courts and forgotten.

Benjamin Prescott, engineer of Albany’s first municipal water system and the man responsible for those pipes, is all but equally forgotten, despite an illustrious career in engineering.  Prescott served as an Engineer in the American Revolution, Superintendent of the Springfield Armory, and was the designer of several notable projects, including one of this nation’s first inclined planes (on the Connecticut River). He also conducted a 1790s survey of Niagara Falls, consulted on the Erie Canal, designed the Troy Sloop Lock (the Federal Dam) and more. [Read more…] about A Short Biography of Engineer Benjamin Prescott

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Albany, American Revolution, Cohoes, Engineering History, Hudson River, Industrial History, Niagara River, Political History, Troy, War of 1812, Waterford, Watervliet

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